Due to his coming together with Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) in Barcelona, Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) will start the Motul TT Assen from last place on the grid. It’s going to be an uphill battle for the Italian on Sunday but both Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) have proved that comebacks are possible. With his grid position already decided, Iannone can focus all of his attention on his race setup without having to worry about getting into Q2. Fortunately for Iannone Assen is a circuit which he enjoys and which he has achieved solid results at in the past.
In 2014 Iannone raced to fourth position aboard the factory Ducati, ending within 20 seconds of the winner and missing the podium by only five seconds. Since moving up to the MotoGP™ World Championship he has only once finished outside the top ten in Assen, on his first visit. During his time in the Moto2™ World Championship he stepped onto the podium twice, winning the 2010 edition and taking second in 2012.
Andrea Iannone: “In the Monday test after Barcelona, we focused on working with the new compounds that Michelin brought and I have to say that the tests proved to be interesting. The French company continues to improve the tyre performance, and they are always very reactive. The feeling with the Desmosedici GP is good, so we will see how they perform at Assen. In the Netherlands I won in Moto2 in 2010 and it’s a circuit I like a lot, even though in previous years it’s proved to be a bit of a tough circuit for Ducati.”